Dan Gorlin is a computer game programmer, designer and founder of Dan Gorlin Productions. He is best known for his 1982 Apple II game Choplifter.
Gorlin accidentally got into game development. While living in Los Angeles working for the Rand Corporation researching artificial intelligence, he borrowed an Apple II from his grandfather. While trying to sell his house and sitting at home for six months, he started writing his seminal game Choplifter...
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Dan Gorlin is a computer game programmer, designer and founder of Dan Gorlin Productions. He is best known for his 1982 Apple II game Choplifter.
Gorlin accidentally got into game development. While living in Los Angeles working for the Rand Corporation researching artificial intelligence, he borrowed an Apple II from his grandfather. While trying to sell his house and sitting at home for six months, he started writing his seminal game Choplifter out of his affinity for helicopters, and due to sheer boredom. A local kid doing odd jobs for Gorlin suggested he should add men to pick up, like in Defender. Gorlin completed the game in six months.
Gorlin's next game, Airheart, also for the Apple II, took three years to complete. The following game, Typhoon Thompson, took about two years, but Gorlin admits that the development of these games overlapped somewhat. The development for these games took so long because Gorlin started other games in between—a black hole game and a seaplane game...
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